(a)
The Legislature shall make an annual appropriation to the Judicial Council for the general operations of the trial courts based on the request of the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council’s trial court budget request, which shall be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature, shall meet the needs of all trial courts in a manner that ensures a predictable fiscal environment for labor negotiations in accordance with the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 71600) of Title 8), that promotes equal access to the courts statewide, and that promotes court financial accountability. The annual budget request shall include the following components:
(1)
Commencing with the 2006–07 fiscal year, annual General Fund appropriations to support the trial courts shall be comprised of both of the following:
(A)
The current fiscal year General Fund appropriations, which include all of the following:
(i)
General Fund moneys appropriated for transfer or direct local assistance in support of the trial courts.
(ii)
Transfers to the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund.
(iii)Local assistance grants made by the Judicial Council, including the Equal Access Fund.
(iv)
The full year cost of budget change proposals approved through the 2006–07 fiscal year or subsequently
approved in accordance with paragraph (2), but excluding lease-revenue payments and funding for costs specifically and expressly reimbursed through other state or federal funding sources, excluding the cost of one-time or expiring programs.
(B)
A cost-of-living and growth adjustment computed by multiplying the year-to-year percentage change in the state appropriation limit as described in Section 3 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution by the sum of all of the following:
(i)
The current year General Fund appropriations for the trial courts, as defined in subparagraph (A).
(ii)
The amount of county obligations established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 77201.1 in effect as of June 30, 2005, six hundred ninety-eight million sixty-eight thousand dollars ($698,068,000).
(iii)The level of funding required to be transferred from the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund to the Trial Court Trust Fund pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 77209, thirteen million three hundred ninety-seven thousand dollars ($13,397,000).
(iv)
Funding deposited into the Court Facilities Trust Fund associated with each facility that was transferred to the state not less than two fiscal years earlier than the fiscal year for which the cost-of-living and growth adjustment is being calculated.
(v)
The court filing fees and surcharges projected to be deposited into the Trial Court Trust Fund in the 2005–06 fiscal year, adjusted to reflect the full-year implementation of the uniform civil fee structure implemented on January 1, 2006, three hundred sixty-nine million six hundred seventy-two
thousand dollars ($369,672,000).
(2)
In addition to the moneys to be applied pursuant to subdivision (b), the Judicial Council may identify and request additional funding for the trial courts for costs resulting from the implementation of statutory changes that result in either an increased level of service or a new activity that directly affects the programmatic or operational needs of the courts.
(b)
The Judicial Council shall allocate the funding from the Trial Court Trust Fund to the trial courts in a manner that best ensures the ability of the courts to carry out their functions, promotes implementation of statewide policies, and promotes the immediate implementation of efficiencies and cost-saving measures in court operations, in order to guarantee access to justice to citizens of the state.
The Judicial Council shall ensure that
allocations to the trial courts recognize each trial court’s implementation of efficiencies and cost-saving measures.
These efficiencies and cost-saving measures shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)
The sharing or merger of court support staff among trial courts across counties.
(2)
The assignment of any type of case to a judge for all purposes commencing with the filing of the case and regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.
(3)
The establishment of a separate calendar or division to hear a particular type of case.
(4)
In rural counties, the use of all court facilities for hearings and trials of all types of cases and the acceptance of filing documents in any case.
(5)
The use of alternative dispute resolution programs, such as arbitration.
(6)
The development and use of automated accounting and case-processing systems.
(c)
(1)The Judicial Council shall adopt policies and procedures governing practices and procedures for budgeting in the trial courts in a manner that best ensures the ability of the courts to carry out their functions and may delegate the adoption to the Administrative Director of the Courts. The Administrative Director of the Courts shall establish budget procedures and an annual schedule of budget development and management consistent with these rules.
(2)
The trial court policies and procedures shall specify the process for a court to transfer existing funds between or among
the budgeted program components to reflect changes in the court’s planned operation or to correct technical errors. If the process requires a trial court to request approval of a specific transfer of existing funds, the Administrative Office of the Courts shall review the request to transfer funds and respond within 30 days of receipt of the request. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall respond to the request for approval or denial to the affected court, in writing, with copies provided to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Legislature’s budget committees, and the court’s affected labor organizations.
(3)
The Judicial Council shall circulate for comment to all affected entities any amendments proposed to the trial court policies and procedures as they relate to budget monitoring and reporting. Final changes shall be adopted at a meeting of the Judicial Council.